This Is My Story
by TheSummerNightingale
Summary: "People say the Choosing Ceremony doesn't change a thing about you. They say it could change your lifestyle, but it doesn't change you." Sophia Peterson is Amity through and through. That is, until she defies all nature by picking, well, a faction not in her nature. Set before the "Divergent" series, follow through Sophia's experience as an Amity-gone-rogue. ON HIATUS UNTIL JUNE.
1. Chapter 1

**I'm probably going to regret this later, but it's okay. **

**See, I've just finished reading ****Divergent**** and I'm so obsessed with everything, and I really want to write fanfiction. But I don't want to write fanfic until I'm done reading all three books, but I've requested them at the local library and it'll take forever for it to come, so I can't expect to read it for another 2 weeks, which I'll surely die of temptation.**

**So here's the start of what will be a kind of long story. I don't exactly know where it's going, or if I'll really actually complete it. But it's basically just a way for me to fangirl and write even without reading ****Insurgent ****and ****Allegiant**** yet.**

**Enjoy :)**

**And disclaimer: I don't own anything except for the characters and kinda the plot. I know it might sound a lot like what happened to Tris in ****Divergent****, but I did my best to keep it all… less similar? Yeah so, I don't own anything but the characters :)**

* * *

People say the Choosing Ceremony doesn't change a thing about you. They say it could change your lifestyle, but it doesn't change you.

They're wrong, and I'm living proof of that (and coming from a Dauntless, "living" is something to be rather proud of, thank you very much).

This is how I went against the odds and won. This is my story.

* * *

I walk with my family. We're all dressed in red and yellow. I am almost sure it will stay that way.

It's no surprise to me that for the aptitude test, I got Amity. I've been in Amity all my life. I like being nice to others. I'm content with singing songs and picking fruit. Most of the time.

Yeah, which would explain why I'm thinking of joining a different faction.

My family consists of my father, mother, and myself. My older brother… he might be somewhere here. But if he is, we can't really talk to him. He's in Abnegation now.

As we reach the spot where we must part, my mother pats my dark hair, making sure every strand is neatly hanging down. "Now, Sophia," she says, her blue eyes shining at me with kindness, "We love you, no matter what you choose."

My father, who is a foot taller than me, stoops and holds both of my hands in his rough ones. "Soph, your mother's right. Of course, we'll miss you if you change factions, but…" His voice sounds a little sad, but proud at the same time. "It's your choice."

This makes me feel even worse, and I rush to stop them. "No, Mom, Dad. Don't worry. I won't leave you." But the words feel like a lie.

My dad stands up straight and tousles my hair, causing my mother to gasp and comb through the thick locks with her fingers. "It's okay if you do, Soph. Make us proud."

They both give me hugs, and I wave to them as they go and stand with the other parents. The smile is taken off my face, though, when I look at the front of the room. The soil. The water. The stones. The glass. The coals.

Which one?

Typically, people choose either the faction they are born in, or the faction they get on the aptitude test. In fact, I'm fairly certain that bad things tend to happen to the people who choose factions they are not meant for. "Bad", meaning factionless.

There's a part near Amity where the factionless live. Sometimes, I'm forced to walk past them. Their lives are terrible. They're treated horribly, with little clothes, and food so scarce that their bones all show. And their eyes…. well, honestly, I think they'd be better off dead than in this state.

But even with the idea of becoming factionless, the thought of spending the rest of my life in Amity already sparks a tinge of regret and reluctance in me. I just want to do… something _more_.

The ceremony starts. I can barely hear the speaker, a representative from Candor, make the regular announcements and formalities. And before I know it, Angelina Avalos from my faction is being called up. She chooses Amity, and from the sidelines, her parents smile.

I wonder if my parents will smile even if I pick Abnegation or something.

Theo Cannestra is the first to pick a different faction - Candor. I watch as he casts a glance to his family, who are looking at him sadly, forlorn smiles on their faces.

I glance back at the blood on the glass, and immediately decide I can't be in Candor. I don't lie all the time, but I don't tell the truth all the time either.

More people pass. A girl I don't really know chooses Abnegation. There's a boy who goes to Erudite. But other than that, everyone sticks with Amity.

And then, it's my name. "Sophia Peterson."

I walk up to the stage. My hands are shaking by my sides. Perhaps that means I can't be Dauntless.

I take my place in front of the five bowls. Not the glass. I decide to take out the water, too. I don't think I'm particularly clever enough for Erudite.

The man hands me a blade. I gently cut my palm. The blood swells up in beads of red, and I have to make a decision.

I'm not Candor. I'm not Erudite. I don't think I can be Abnegation. It's just Dauntless and Amity left, and I think I know which one I'm going to choose, because I would have to be brave to choose Dauntless, and I don't think I'm brave. Plus, I've never done that well in any sort of physical education, and you need to be fit to be Dauntless.

No, I think I must choose Amity.

And coincidentally, that's when I thrust my hand over the burning coals, and the blood drips, sizzling on the red-hot embers.

Maybe I am not supposed to be Dauntless. Maybe I'm not supposed to be brave.

But today, I am, and maybe that might just be enough.

* * *

My red and yellow clothes stand out in the group of Dauntless initiates. Most of them wear the black of the Dauntless-born. Some wear the white and black of the Candor. Few wear the scholarly blue of the Erudite. A couple are dressed in Abnegation gray. I am the only one who wears the red and yellow of Amity.

After the ceremony, I got to have the barest glimpse of my mother and father. They were both smiling at me proudly, but my mother was also wiping her eyes. I feel guilty for leaving them, but at the same time, I'm completely excited to see what's in store for me.

"What are we doing?" an Erudite transfer hisses out as we run up the stairs. The task tires me out, but I don't stop running. I don't want to be left behind.

A Dauntless-born initiate turns his head to the Erudite boy, a mischievous smirk on his face. "We're jumping on trains," he says, as if it's the most normal thing in the world.

I've watched the Dauntless jump off and on the trains before, many times. The trains go at full speed, never stopping, and the Dauntless hop on and off like… like they're bunnies or something.

Our group bursts out the doors into open air. The wind whips my dark brown hair to the side, and I impatiently whip it up into a ponytail. I suppose that's why I can't be in Amity anymore. I'm impatient.

Everyone stops running when we get to the edge of the train tracks. I can hear the whistle blow. It is close. I try to peer over people's shoulders for a first look at the train, but I find I am much too short.

Not more than fifteen seconds later, the train barrels around the corner, its cars chasing after it. The Dauntless members are the first to whoop and leap onto the train. The Dauntless-born initiates are next, their expressions gleeful. Finally, it's just the transfers.

"We have to jump?" says a boy from Candor. He looks half-excited, half-terrified.

Nobody answers him, but two other boys from Erudite daringly rush forward and grab onto a train car's handles as it passes by. One of them nearly slips, but catches himself just in time and hauls himself into the car.

Now there's ten of us left. A girl from Abnegation surges forward and successfully makes her way onto the train. Three from Candor quickly follow. They all make it.

Six of us. The train cars are coming to an end.

I look at the others, who seem to be just as scared as I am.

"I'm not doing it," says the boy from Abnegation.

"Me neither," nods a girl from Erudite. She looks positively green in the face.

I bite my lip. Everything screams to follow them. Better factionless than dead, right?

But then I think about the gaunt, hollow faces of the factionless. And suddenly, death is a little more appealing.

I turn to the remaining redhead Candor, a Candor girl, and an Erudite girl. "Are you coming?"

My voice is shaky, and I think my legs are wobbling, but I whip around, and without thinking, start running alongside the train. At first I panic, because I'm not fast enough to keep up, but when I see the door of a car approaching, I take a grand leap in the air and grasp for the metal handle.

My left hand touches thin air, but my right hand closes in on cold metal. My arms are shaking and I think I might fly off, when strong hands from inside the car reach my arms and yanks me inside the car. I fall and crumple to the floor, effectively crushing my savior.

"Sorry," I gasp out, trying to get the feeling back in my arms. I quickly get up and offer my hand to the boy I have just sat on.

He doesn't take it. Instead, he stands up by himself, and I realize he's not a transfer; he's already wearing Dauntless black. I see the open door behind him leading to the rest of the train, and conclude he's a Dauntless-born initiate.

He looks at me with light blue eyes that stand out against his black hair. When he speaks, it's sort of condescending. "Don't expect help next time."

The boy turns and walks back through the door connecting the train cars, and shuts it behind him. I am the only one in this particular car when I hear a brilliant scream from outside.

Rushing to the door, I see that the redhead Candor has befallen the same fate as I did. He's in the car behind mine, and holding on for dear life.

"Hang on!" I call, as if he'll let go.

For a brief moment, I consider running for the Dauntless boy's help. But something tells me that he only helped me because he happened to be in the right place at the right time. I am by myself, now.

I notice a door inside my train connecting to her car. I rush over and yank the wood door open, to find that instead of a nice little path to the next car, like the one the boy had walked through, this happens to be where hinges and metal bars connect our cars. To get to the other car, I must jump over the space of six feet and land on the other side. The tracks fly beneath me and I want to barf.

The boy's screams hit my ears again.

I can't afford to think. I leap and find my feet planted on the other side. The wind whips my shorter hairs all over my face as I thrust the door open and rush into this car.

I run over to the opening, where the boy's screams pierces my thoughts. I peer out and see his face, his eyes squeezed tightly shut. His knuckles are white, clamped down on the metal handle.

"I'll help!" I yell wildly out to him, even though I have no idea if I have the strength to haul him in. I don't think I do.

He gives the barest of nods, and I grab his arms like the other boy did to me. Even though I don't even do anything else, the boy suddenly finds the energy to survive. He catapults himself towards the opening of the car, making us both fall towards the ground.

We both breathe heavily for a moment. Once we've caught our breaths, we get up. I groan as I sit up, rubbing my neck.

"Are you okay?" I groggily ask the boy.

He flashes a smile. All fear is gone from his face, replaced by a wild, exhilarated look. "Perfect," he declares. "You?"

"I've been better."

He extends a hand. "I'm Dean."

I shake it. "Sophia."

We both stay on the floor, watching the landscape pass by.

Dean speaks up. "This is one of the first. An Amity getting Dauntless?" He grins. "You must be something special."

I raise my eyebrows and laugh. "No, just jealous."

"Jealous? Of what?" Dean snorts. "Nearly killing yourself?"

I shake my head. "Of adventure."

Dean's face turns solemn as he nods in agreement. "I see what you mean."

I'm about to reply, when we both hear a commotion from the earlier compartments. We peer out the door to see people jumping out of the train, onto a rooftop. We're high up. Very high up. There's a large gap between the train and the rooftop. I think I'm going to die.

"We have to jump!" I scream, more for myself than anything.

The roof gets closer. My heart is pounding so hard I think it might stop.

"On three?" Dean shouts over the wind. I want to say no, but the faces of the factionless pops into my head again.

I force myself to nod, and out of instinct, take his hand. Before I lose all sense of courage, I shout out, "One… two… three!"

We take a flying leap out of the car. For a brief moment, I think that we're going to fall, because I feel us dropping and we're not above the roof yet.

But then we land on the gravel and stumble forwards. Our hands hit the hard roof, and we crawl further away from the ledge.

Both of us are breathing heavily. I have to pry my fingers from Dean's left hand, because I was clenching so hard.

"You nearly cut off my circulation," Dean jokes, but he looks nauseous.

I nod, and push myself off the ground. I watch as a few other transfers jump from their cars onto the roof. All of them make it.

Before I even have time to count heads to see who's still here, a man with dark brown hair calls out, "Everyone, pay attention here!"

He scans the crowd. His voice is strict, but his eyes are kind. "Welcome. I am Felix, one of the Dauntless initiate supervisors. Congratulations to you new initiates, as you have all passed the easy part of initiation today." He pauses. "We are now at the entrance of Dauntless headquarters."

A Candor boy calls out, "I don't see anything, where is it?"

Felix fixes him with a stare. "Just because you don't see it doesn't mean it's not here." He turns around and looks down the side of the building. Looking back to us, he points down and shouts, "This is our entrance! You must prove yourself worthy by jumping down! Transfers get the honor of going first."

He gives a slow, slightly daunting smile. "Any volunteers?"

I want to volunteer, I do. In Amity, when we read stories to each other at night, the heroes were always the one who did things first. Who weren't afraid. I want to say I'm one of them, which is why my legs almost start moving.

But fear of what may be down there keeps me from continuing. I still my limbs. I can't. I was born to frolick in meadows, not jump off buildings.

"I'll go." I'm surprised to hear Dean's voice. It's nervous, but it's also determined.

"That's the spirit," Felix says, but he doesn't really sound enthusiastic. More… mildly interested.

Dean walks to the edge of the building. All of us transfers inch forward so we can see what's over the ledge.

I nearly scream. Seven stories down is a huge, gaping hole in the ground. It's black. I can't see anything in it. Maybe there's skeletons down there, of people who jumped.

A few feet away, Dean takes a deep breath, and finds me in the crowd. He gives a shaky smile. Closes his eyes. And jumps.

We can all hear his yelps as he plummets down, but it gets further and further away, until we can't hear it anymore. There's some murmurs through the crowd, a few laughs, and someone claps and cheers.

Felix looks down. "Well, kudos to him for going first, I suppose," he sighs. "Alright. Who's next?"

The transfers slowly volunteer to go, one after another, and with each person, my fear increases. It's the Erudite girl that goes next. Another Candor boy, then a Candor girl, and on and on, until it's just me and the brunette Abnegation girl left. She looks terrified. I'm terrified.

"You want to go?" I ask, but it's more of a plea for her to go.

She hesitates, and I can see it in her gray eyes: She doesn't want to.

I open my mouth, ready to say I'm going next, but then I glance towards the hole again. The sight of the pit fills me with dread, and a sick feeling settles in my stomach. I can't do this. I've never particularly liked heights. Why should I start now?

"Hurry it up and choose," Felix says with a hint of impatience.

Before I can say anything, the Abnegation girl slowly walks to the edge of the building, and without even stopping, drops herself off. She's a blur of gray and a frequency of screams, and then she's gone like the rest of them.

I'm the last transfer initiate.

"Go on," Felix says, gesturing to the edge.

I take a deep breath and walk to the side. I try not to look down, but I feel the tingles in my toes already.

Glancing behind me, I somehow lock eyes with the boy on the train. He's looking at me with a slight sneer on his lips. Somehow, this makes me very angry, and I temporarily forget my fear of heights, forget that I'm plunging to my death.

I just bend my knees and jump.

As I'm falling, I'm aware of the fact that I'm screaming, and that my lungs are plugged and I can't breathe. I'm also aware of the fact that my heart is at my toes and the wind is bringing tears to my eyes.

And when I hit the net, I'm aware of cheering and stomping feet, except the only thing I can say is, "Never again. Never again. Never again."

But as I get pulled out of the black net by a lady with tattoos all over her arms, I start laughing and I think I might start jumping off buildings more often.

* * *

**How is it so far? Should I keep it going? Tell me what you're thinking :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**I've decided I have to continue this for a while longer. It's kind of like my refresher from my other stories - I hate to say it, but I'm starting to lose steam for my other multi-chapter…**

**Anyway, thanks for the support so far! I appreciate it a bunch :)**

**Enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

Friends. I've never been good at making friends.

Back in Amity, I had a few friends, and that was all I needed. They were all girls: Melissa, Tatiana, and Cara. Our chemistry was perfect - Melissa was the girly one, Tatiana was athletic, and Cara was the outgoing one. I was the one who played the banjo in the truck.

(Basically, out of all of us, I would be the least likely to choose/survive Dauntless)

Melissa and Cara stuck with Amity, but Tatiana switched to Candor. Funny. I never even suspected, but then again, I'd never expected myself to switch from the safe, carefree realm of Amity.

Anyway, that friendship is over. I can't see any of them anymore, especially since I'm in Dauntless. The Candor don't care much for Dauntless shenanigans. The Amity view Dauntless as terrifying, as a faction where peace and happiness is not allowed. That was my view, at least until today.

After the tour of the Dauntless compound, we sit down for lunch. When we walk into the room, the Dauntless all around us start stomping on the ground and banging on the tables. I can't help but marvel at the dark energy in this faction. The tattoos. The piercings. Their way of life is fascinating.

_No_, I correct myself,_ my way of life. _I can't afford to think like an Amity anymore.

I sit at a table with Dean and a few other transfer-initiates. There's Abby, the Abnegation girl. Fred, an Erudite. Audrey, another Erudite. And Emily, who is a Candor. Earlier, I'd asked the others (Michael, Cayden, Kathryn, and Henry)

You can see how well we get along:

Fred (to Abby): "So you're one of those Abnegations."

Abby: "I'm from Abnegation, yes."

Fred: "Oh. And I suppose you think your faction is doing your job of keeping the government steady?"

Abby: "They're not my faction anymore. But of course, they are doing their job."

Fred: "Well, I could beg to differ, actually."

Abby: "It's okay, you don't have to beg."

And on and on until Emily and Dean have to firmly tell them to stop and calm down. Honestly, I've never known the Abnegation to be fiery. They're subtle, like the Amity, but in a different, mellow way.

Not Abby. I mean, you can tell she's got the Abnegation customs still (she refused to let Dean sit closer than a foot to her). But her personality? All I can say is that she's pretty much Dauntless through and through.

What I would give to be in her spot.

"So," Fred says, not looking at Abby, "what do you all think about Dauntless so far?"

Emily sweeps her long dark hair over her shoulder and says, "It's pretty cool. It's so different from Candor. It's so much more… alive."

Dean nods. "Dauntless is full of energy, you know? It's exciting."

I smile a little to myself. I can connect with them completely. Dauntless _is _exciting, and it's extremely alive. Something about this place can never be touched with things like cherry-picking and strumming a banjo.

The door to the dining hall bursts open. In walks Felix, and another man with light brown hair follows him. The chatter dies out and all heads turn to the two.

"Dauntless!" the second man calls out. "Today, we welcome our newest initiates and transfers!"

There's a large pounding of hands on the table and cheers. In this aspect, Dauntless isn't all that different from Amity. Other than the fact that these people all have pierced everything you can possibly pierce and have tattoos on their bodies. Oh, and that they're hobbies include jumping off trains.

Felix puts up a hand to quiet them. "After dinner, we will be taking all the initiates to give the final rundown of the initiation process. Transfers will go with Cole here, and Dauntless-born with me."

He and Cole start towards their own table, signalling the end of their little talk. I turn back to my table mates, wracking my brain for something I can say to them. I've never been good with words, and I've never been good with people (another reason why Amity didn't work out so well for me).

"I wonder what the initiation process will be like," I finally say.

Dean smirks at me, his brown eyes teasing. "Probably to get tattoos."

Fred's blue eyes light up. "Or piercings."

The two grin at each other, and I can see they're going to be friends. I roll my eyes and catch Audrey, the blonde Erudite girl, doing the same. I give her a smile. She doesn't give one back.

I don't think we're going to be friends.

As soon as dinner is over, we see Cole waving us over to him. We join the other four transfer initiates walking over.

"I'm Cole. Follow me, and I'll tell you a few important details about initiation." He gives an easy grin, and I like him immediately. I briefly wonder if he used to be in Amity.

Our group of ten initiates follows him through a few different hallways. The walls are made of rock, and the only light down here is at the ends of the hallways. I find myself getting goosebumps on my arms, and quickly rub at them. I can't be afraid of something so simple as the dark.

But it's kind of hard, since back at home, walls are typically nice and comfortable. Light is plentiful. And the air is fresh.

Cole suddenly stops in front of a wooden door and waits until we're all within earshot. "This is the door to your dormitory. You will be sleeping separately from the Dauntless-born initiates, as well as do much of the training alone."

Dean's Candor nature shows as he blurts out, "What training? Are we going to use guns?"

Cole looks at him in slight amusement. "Yeah, Candor, we are. And the training is your stage one of initiation. You will be ranked according to how well you can fight and defend yourself."

A Candor girl with blonde hair (Kathryn, I believe her name is) asks, "What're the rankings for?"

"Ah, the rankings." Cole scans all of our faces, and I am suddenly scared for what he will say, because his face is forlorn. "The rankings determine who may stay."

We all have to think about this one for a moment. The Erudite transfers are first to figure it out, and when it dawns on them, they immediately say what all of us are thinking.

"'_Stay_'?" repeats Fred. "So some of us aren't going to stay?"

The skinny Erudite boy named Henry says, "That can't mean that we're going to be factionless. It's the initiation process, for heaven's sake!"

The rankings. The initiation process. Suddenly, I don't feel as if I am brave.

I want to scream at Cole. I want to yell and say it's completely selfish for them for doing this, because it's no doubt what this ranking is implying - it's implying that they only want the best.

I don't think I'm anywhere near "the best".

I can see the Candor in Dean and Emily start to build up. Emily says, "That's unfair! We chose Dauntless, and now-"

"-we have to choose you," Cole says, but his voice sounds regretful and monotone, as if it's something he has to repeat often. He puts up a hand to silence us all, and even though he gives off friendly vibes, we all shut up.

"To answer your question, yes, some of you will not be able to stay. There are ten of you transfers, and seven Dauntless-born initiates this year, which is lucky for you, since there are usually more.

"The stages are based on the rankings you get according to everyone else, so while you are training separately from the Dauntless-born, your scores will still stand against each other. At the end of stage one, four initiates will be cut."

My stomach drops to the ground.

He looks at all of us sadly. "It's unfair, yes, but it's part of the initiation process. The top ten scores at the end of all three stages will become Dauntless members. The rest will become factionless."

On that happy note, he turns and opens the door. "This is your dormitory. Congratulations for making it this far, and be sure you are rested for tomorrow, when we begin training."

Cole nods his head at us, and, after looking each of us in the eye, starts back down the hall without another word.

We all look at each other, and Emily pushes the door open and walks in.

Dean, who is in front of me, turns on the light. The dormitory seems comfortable. It has exactly ten plain beds and a bathroom off to the side.

All of us pick our beds. I take the one in the corner, just as Audrey picks the one next to me. For a moment, we look at each other, and her hazel eyes pierce into mine. It makes me feel uncomfortable, but I force myself not to look away.

She gives a little scowl and turns to pick a bed further away. I wonder what I've done wrong, and immediately feel the need to apologize to her, even though I don't think I've done anything. But the idea of apologizing is so Amity, and not Dauntless at all, I force myself to keep my mouth shut.

A small Candor boy named Cayden takes her place at the bed next to me. He flashes a nice smile at me, and I return it.

We all get ready for bed in a slow, trance-like pace. No one speaks, except for when we're deciding who can use the bathroom first.

When we're all set and in bed, Emily, who is closest to the light switch, turns out the lights. The room is immediately plunged into a thick darkness.

The first five minutes are fine.

I think it's because we're all stuck in our own little world where we're thinking about how exhilarating everything was today - from the Choosing Ceremony, to the train, to jumping off that building.

But soon, the crying starts.

Surprisingly, I'm not one of the criers. There's about two, I think. One from the opposite side of the room, and one close by.

The sobs are quiet, but they're filled with desperation, too. I immediately sympathize, because I can tell they are fearful. No one wants to be factionless, but we've just found out that quite a few of us will be, by the end of this initiation ceremony.

I've seen the faces of the factionless. They haunt me, because it's a reminder that Amity has censored the bad and kept in the good. It reminds me that there's bad in the world, something that Amity strives to abolish.

The thought that Dauntless might throw us out into them makes me want to throw up and cry like the others. It's not fair.

(But somehow, I get the feeling that Dauntless doesn't really take fairness into account)

Suddenly, out of nowhere, the lights flicker back on, and I let out a little yelp as I quickly sit up.

My eyes adjust to the brightness, and I see Emily sitting on her bed, her grey eyes scanning the room without sympathy. From across the room comes a sniffle, and I look to see Michael Crown, who is another Candor, quickly wipe his eyes.

I glance around my area, but no one seems to be crying. Cayden looks wide-awake (then again, so does everyone), but there's no tears on his face. There's none on Dean's, either. The only bed close enough is Audrey's, but her face is still pressed up against her pillow - it seems that Emily turning the light has not affected her at all.

I turn back to Emily, whose face is set with determination.

"Listen up," she says, and her voice has the blunt, unwavering quality of a Candor. "The crying has to stop. I know it's the first day of Dauntless, but we can't afford to be like this, not when we're up against Dauntless-initiates. Weakness stems from the start. We have to start out strong and stay strong. There's no time to be weak, unless you want to become factionless."

She glares at each of us in the eye. But it's not with irritation or malevolence - it's just steady and puts you on the spotlight. "So try to calm down, yeah? And shut up, while you're at it. We need all the sleep we can get."

Emily says with an air of finality, "Lights out?"

I nod, along with a few other people, even though I don't agree with half of what she's just said. But she's inspiring, and I admire her for taking the initiative and trying, in her own way, to help all of us. She's a leader.

The lights turn off.

There are no sobs anymore. A few sniffles here and there, but Emily's talk has temporarily strengthened our souls.

I lie back down on my bed, and stare at the ceiling, pulling my blankets to my chin. The air down here is musky and odd - nothing I'm used to.

I think about what Emily said. _"We have to start out strong and stay strong"._ I don't believe that. Being strong is only applicable if you allow room for weakness. Maybe it's my Amity upbringing, but I don't believe for a second that you can be strong for a long period of time without being weak at least once.

But I suppose that's what Dauntless is about. It's about being strong despite the weak. Dauntless, I guess, makes you so strong that your "weak" isn't weak at all, it's just normal.

My stomach feels queasy again, and it's got nothing to do with the underground air. I flash back to the Choosing Ceremony, which feels like ages and weeks ago, but was just this morning. How many things would be different, if I'd chosen Amity? Or Abnegation? I'd be with my family either way. My parents in Amity. My brother in Abnegation. I'd be safe. They'd know I'd be safe, in both factions.

But not Dauntless. I can only imagine what my parents are thinking. If they knew about these rankings and what they imply...

I drift to sleep with my apologies to them on the tip of my tongue.

* * *

"Today, you will be learning how to assemble and shoot a gun." Cole casually waves a metal gun in his hand. "Felix will be coming in later, too, since he's a better shot than me, and he'll have the time to since the Dauntless-born initiates started training earlier than you. Any questions before we get started?"

I can't imagine how the Dauntless-born have started earlier than us. It's six thirty in the morning. As I look around, none of my fellow initiates seem to be more than half-awake, even though Cole's holding a gun and waving it around in our faces like it's not a lethal weapon. All of our new black clothes are thrown on messily, and there are still a bunch of knots in my hair (along with the other girls).

Dean seems to wake up for a moment. "Yeah, I've got one. Why do we have to wake up so early?"

Cole rolls his eyes and says, "Get used to it, wimp." But it's not really in a mean way. It's more brotherly, if anything.

He shows us the correct stance and way of holding the gun. This is where I pay attention most, because I've never been good at physical stuff. Climbing trees and running through the orchards were not among the things I did best in Amity, so maybe knowing techniques will help.

When Cole shoots the gun, it takes everything I can muster to not completely freak out and run from the room. The sound is so loud that by instinct, I clamp my hands over my ears and leap into the air.

I'm the only one to do so. The rest just jump back a little, with grim expressions on their faces.

The bullet hits the middle of the target, but not at dead center. It's still amazing though. I think I'll be happy if I can hit the target at all.

Cole turns around and surveys us all, and nods appreciatively. "You guys are pretty strong-willed. Not all initiates tend to be as calm as you all are."

I can see some of us, like Fred, turn red at the compliment. I turn red too, but it's because I know I'm one of those that aren't "as calm as the rest of them all are".

"Grab a gun," Cole says, as if it's totally normal to tell a bunch of sixteen-year olds to pick out a gun. "And stand in front of a shooting target."

The box is on a table in the corner. By the time I reach it, the rest are already heading to their targets. There are two guns leftover. I pick the smaller one, because it just feels nicer. The cold metal burns into my hand, and I cringe as I make my way to a target.

"Alright," Cole smiles. "Shoot away."

His order is so carefree and trusting, so _Dauntless_, that I completely understand why Dean whoops aloud and some initiates laugh. Because in Candor, in Erudite, in Abnegation, and in Amity, under no circumstances would somebody just tell you to "shoot away".

The thought of my parents telling me to shoot a gun is funny, but not nearly enough so that I forget that the cool metal object I am holding can end a life in two seconds.

Emily is the first to shoot her gun (no surprise there). This time, I'm ready, and when I hear the bang, my eyes close but I don't stumble back or anything, which makes me rather proud. Emily's bullet hits the outer ring of the target, and I see Cole behind her nodding his approval.

I turn back to my own target, my eyes narrowed in concentration. I must please Cole, if I am to do well in this initiation process. My teeth grit together as I struggle to hold my gun and stand just as he had before.

Two people to my right, Audrey fires her gun. The noise surprises me, and I actually let out a loud yelp, which completely embarrasses me. Her bullet misses the target by a fraction of an inch.

Everyone looks nervous now, since Emily and Audrey have done fairly well, for their first time shooting. I watch Cayden fumble with the trigger and nearly shoot his foot. Dean is patting at his red hair, as if gunpower has somehow gotten into it.

I look down at my own gun again, and lift it up. I try to position myself like I had seen him do it. And without further stalling, I lift the gun up and shoot.

I don't expect the recoil (I guess Emily and Audrey were much better at hiding it), and so I half-stumble, half-fly two feet back, and nearly fall on my butt. I rub my arm, and look at the target. There's no bullet there, or anywhere particularly near it. The bullet's about two feet from the target.

But the fact that I was able to shoot the gun at all excites me, and I glance down at the gun with a newfound interest. I smile down at it, which is a little weird, and apparently Cole thinks so too, because all of a sudden, he stands behind me.

"Not too bad, for a first-timer. You're the Amity girl, aren't you?" Cole asks.

I nod. "Sophia."

Cole scratches his head, a thoughtful expression on his face. "Yeah, Felix said that Nick told him about you."

I raise my eyebrow. "Who's Nick?"

"Felix's brother," Cole shrugs.

I look at him oddly. "Okay." Even though I still have no idea who Nick is, I don't really want to ask again.

Cole gestures towards the gun. "Try again. You'll improve, I'm sure."

When Felix arrives two hours later, I have improved - just not as much as Cole and I expected.

My shooting skills have went from getting two feet from the target to half a foot from the target. I'm completely frustrated and tired, because I am the only initiate who has not yet hit the target. And Emily has already struck the center twice.

"Felix," Cole greets, and the two nod at each other. I almost expect them to hug, but I suppose Dauntless people don't work that way.

"Stop shooting," Felix says, and I put my arms down in relief. They are sore. So are my legs, which have been supporting my weight all this time. I flex my fingers and try to get the feeling back into my hands.

Felix waves us to go against the wall, and picks up the last gun from the box. He places himself in front of Kathryn's target and says, "Shooting is an art of precision and timing. Don't make it harder than it is."

There is a click, and he pulls the trigger. My ears have adjusted to the noise of guns firing, so this time, I barely even flinch.

We all gape as we look at the target. Felix hadn't even tried to aim, and he still got dead center.

Felix turns to all of us. "So," he says with a slight smile, "which of you think you can come up and do this?"

Emily volunteers, and I see Cole marking something down on a clipboard. I am immediately reminded that everything we do is probably part of the initiation process. I make a mental note to volunteer next.

It doesn't do much, because after Emily goes (she hit two inches from the center), I find myself trying to blend into the rest of the initiates, willing someone else to go before me. I don't want to shoot, and it has more to do with people than guns.

In Amity, there was one thing you could always count on - the support and faithfulness of your peers. In Dauntless and any other faction, that's something that isn't quite the same. Among these people, even though they seem nice, they are unpredictable. What if… I'm judged by how badly I do? Which I probably will be, by Cole and Felix.

Like yesterday, when we were jumping down the building, people slowly volunteer and go. Each hit the target (Audrey and Dean actually hit the center). I watch everyone shoot, until I'm the only one left.

Felix looks at me, and says, "Your turn, banjo strummin' softy."

I step up to my target line, aware of everyone's eyes on me. Dean flashes an encouraging smile my way.

I force myself to breathe and remember what I have to do. I have to make sure my stance is right, so that I won't be blown over by the recoil. I have to be strong, but not stiff.

My hands are shaking, but I lift the gun and aim. I hear a click by my ear, then pull the trigger to shoot.

The bullet flies, and I will it to land on the target, even if it's at the edge. I don't care. I just want it to hit the target.

It doesn't. It doesn't hit the target. It's about two inches from it, which is good compared to how I was doing it before, but I'm clearly the worst out of everyone. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Felix and Cole share a look. My stomach feels sick, and as I turn, I keep my eyes from meeting anyone else's.

Cole clears his throat. "Alright. Everyone's gone, correct? We'll take a break and resume after lunch."

Everyone puts their guns back and start filing out of the room. I stay at the back, and am the last to leave the room.

Dean shows up by my side, and pats it comfortingly. "It's okay, Sophia. You got into Dauntless for a reason. Guns are just one portion of the process."

I nod, smile, and say, "Thanks."

I'm grateful for his comment, but it doesn't help that I didn't actually get Dauntless in the aptitude test. As I close the door behind me, I'm aware that Cole and Felix are watching me. A brief flash of fear surges into my body, and I tense up. What if they know I'm lying, and that I didn't get Dauntless?

I brush off the thought, and follow the others. No one can know. No one will find out. I'll get better at guns, and whatever else we'll do. No one can find out.

* * *

**How was that? Anything y'all want to happen to Sophia in general? I'm pretty open to any ideas, since I've just got a loose plotline planned out **

**Feedback would be very much appreciated!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Thanks for the lovely feedback so far :) Enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

I don't like punching bags.

That's what I find out when we get back into the room to punch, well, the punching bags.

Don't get me wrong - at first, they looked fun. And when Cole did some crazy maneuver on it, which made the bag swing in a circle, I thought I might be alright at it. Better than with the guns, at any rate.

How very wrong I was.

It took all of us one hit to the bag to realize that Cole must have a lot of muscle under his black clothes, because the bags? None of them swayed more than two inches.

"Keep tension in your stomachs," Cole calls out to the room.

I can't really tell, but I imagine that I'm tense all over. I'm not sure if that's a good or bad thing, but Emily, who looks as calm as ever, manages to move the bag about half a foot without scrunching up her face, so I figure it's a bad thing. I try to clench only my stomach, but it's kind of hard, considering we've just eaten lunch.

I push the dark locks of hair that are coming down from my ponytail. I'm not very good at tying a ponytail yet (something that amused Abby a lot), considering the only styles my hair has ever been in are a braid and just combed down.

My fist connects with the punching bag, and I have to grit my teeth in order not to scream. I make a wringing and shaking motion with the hand, as if to shake the pain out of my knuckles. Apparently, strumming a banjo does not strengthen your hands at all.

I force myself to stay calm and not wail, even though my right hand is throbbing like crazy, and I want to complain _so very much_. But I'm Dauntless now, and complaining means I'm a coward. I'm not a coward, I'm not, or I wouldn't have dared to jump on that train, and off that building. To pick Dauntless in the first place. So I don't complain.

My leg hits the bag, which sends waves of pain up to my hip, and I hop on one foot until my leg stops vibrating. The bag moves about four inches, which is such an accomplishment for me that I forget myself and let out a laugh.

And then I have to look over my shoulder to see Audrey and Dean kick the bag and move it a foot, and suddenly, I'm not so happy anymore.

"Useless bag," I mutter, and the person next to me, who happens to be Cayden, gives a little snort.

"Foul language for an Amity," he comments, and I'm torn between glaring at him or laughing. I choose the laugh, because that's what I'm used to, but when I see Cole standing a few feet to my left, I immediately wish I chose the glare.

My face turns serious again as I push my irritating hair out of my face again. Sweat forms on my forehead. I punch the bag with my fist, which barely makes a dent in its will to stay in one spot.

Cole comes up behind me and says, "I imagine you'll probably have a harder time with this, seeing as you're small and not very muscular."

I nod, resisting the urge to cradle my hand..

"So for you, especially…" Cole leans forward and says with an air of confidentiality, "I'd tell you to focus on building a strong mental endurance, and the physical bit will come afterwards."

He gives me a kind smile that only an instructor can give. "Thanks," I say, because it's expected of me, and because I know he was trying to be kind. But when he turns to critique Cayden, my face falls, and I resume kicking the bag with a newfound bitterness.

It's obvious I'm the underdog. Being the last to jump off the building. The whole "worst-at-shooting-guns" thing. The Amity never choose Dauntless, and when they do, they don't do very well here. Just as the Dauntless who choose Amity, we're not made for the opposite faction. That doesn't _happen_. We're born in the faction we're fit for at birth. Right?

I look down at my palm. A scab is forming over the cut I made yesterday, at the Choosing Ceremony. It stands out against my tan skin, and I bite my lip. I have to keep going.

We spend the next hour punching and kicking, so when Cole finally calls a break, I am so exhausted that it takes all my strength (assuming I have any left) to keep standing.

"Good work," Cole says. "Some of you are better than others-" Here he gives smiles to Emily, Dean, and Audrey. "-but Dauntless is about persevering even when all seems hopeless. We'll start the matches later in the afternoon, at four. Meet here, in the arena. For now, you can go explore the rest of the Dauntless compound." He smirks, which reminds me how young he is compared to the Amity leader, and says, "I advise you go to the Pit, but beware the Chasm. As I'm sure Felix told you before, there's no way you can survive a fall down that."

Felix had told us that, when we saw that chasm and its roaring waters and jagged rocks. It had seemed so surreal at the time, but a cold chill rushes through me as I remember how the waves had curled and frothed dangerously, licking at the sides of the rock. I suppress a shiver.

"Come on," Dean says enthusiastically, pulling me towards the door. We step out into the hallway and wait until Fred, Abby, and Emily join us.

"The Pit?" Emily asks. We all nod, even though I'm sure all of us (well, just Fred, Abby, and I) would rather take a long break before doing any exploring.

As we turn down the hallway, I hear a click behind us, and turn my head to see Cole locking the door. He walks the opposite direction as all of us initiates are, and at the corner, I see Felix meet up with him. The two round the corner, talking in hushed tones.

I have a sudden, Dauntless desire to follow after them, and the desire is so strong that I don't even think it out. My tired legs and sore arms are temporarily forgotten as I stop in my tracks. Fred, Dean, Abby, and Emily look at me curiously.

"You guys go on without me. I'll be right back, I just need to ask Cole something."

Before any of them can protest, I run down the opposite hallway, the way that Cole had gone. My footsteps are light, because even though I'm terrible at long-distance running, I know how to be quiet.

When I round the corner, I'm surprised to feel disappointed that I don't see them anywhere. But it would be awkward to go back now that I've started, so even though I'm starting to feel a little scared, about being in this place alone, I continue creeping down the hall.

I am about to turn around another corner when I hear Felix's voice, and I stop abruptly. I don't dare peek over the corner, so I just keep my back pressed against the stone wall and listen, breathing through my nose to keep my presence unknown.

"...saying he's a Dauntless prodigy."

"Well, he is. You can't deny it." Cole.

I hear a sort of jangling noise, and figure they're about to unlock a door. I release a breath of relief. That means they won't be coming back this way, and won't find me.

Felix lets out a sigh. "It's strange, though, to be teaching him."

"Ahh, Felix. Calm down. You and Nick are more alike than you think."

"And that's a good thing?" Felix asks.

Cole snorts. "Well, maybe. But anyway, even though your brother's some sort of prodigy, I'm willing to bet that some of my initiates could beat the crap out of some of yours."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. Candor's given us two good ones this year, and there's one Erudite that I'm betting will go far."

"Oh, those two that hit the center during gun training?"

"Yep, those would be Dean and Audrey. Dean's a Candor. The other one's Emily."

I hear the sound of a key turning and a door opening. There's a couple of footsteps as Felix says, "Well, we'll see, I suppose. Oh, and I forgot to ask. How's that Amity girl doi-"

A door clicks shut. My mouth drops open and I extend a hand as if to grab them out of the room. Just my luck.

I huff in frustration, and peek around the corner. The door they went through is made of metal, and to be honest, it scares me, so I bite my lip in exasperation. I suppose that's enough eavesdropping for today. I turn around, only to met by a face protruding from the darkness.

"Oh my-" I squeak, jumping back a foot.

Dean laughs. "Calm down, it's just me!"

"That was scary, though," I protest. "What were you doing - spying on me spying on them?"

Dean makes an exaggerated thinking motion. "Yeah, I think that's what I was doing. Though I told the rest of the group that I needed to ask Cole something too." He flashes me a mischievous grin. "'Asking Cole something', huh? Never took you as a liar."

I glare at him, as I start back down the hallway we came from. Unlike before, my legs now feel wobbly and unstable. "It was a spur-of-a-moment type of thing! And knowing that we're training to be Dauntless, if I'd said I wanted to eavesdrop on our instructors, the entire compound would have followed me."

"Mmhm. So did you find out anything interesting?"

"No," I scowl. "Only that Felix's brother is apparently some sort of prodigy."

"Dauntless-born initiate?"

"Yeah. Cole said his name was Nick."

"Interesting," Dean muses. We pass a blue lantern, which makes his red hair seem unnaturally dark.

The rest of the walk is silent. I think about the feeling I'd had right before I'd run off after Cole and Felix. It makes another rush of thrill wash through me, because I realize how Dauntless of a feeling that was. I suddenly feel hopeful. And reckless.

"Hey, Dean," I say before I can stop myself. "Want to get a tattoo?"

His brown eyes widen in shock at first, but he thinks about it, and a smile slowly forms on his face. "Sure."

* * *

When our group steps out of the tattoo parlor, four out of us five are sporting the symbol of Dauntless on either our arms, shoulder blades, or back. Abby's is on her right shoulder. Dean's is on his left arm. Mine and Fred's are on our backs. Surprisingly, Emily is the one out of all of us who refuses to get a tattoo.

"I don't see the point of it," Emily had said, shaking her head. "Not yet, anyway, when they're going to kick some of us out. You wouldn't want to become factionless and have the symbol of the faction that threw you out on your shoulder."

Normally, a statement like that would have hurt me, considering the fact that she is obviously one of the best out of all the transfer-initiates, but when I saw the fire in her eyes, I realized that while she'd been the one to give us a pep talk about not complaining last night, Emily disapproved of the Dauntless initiation ceremony.

Needless to say, I now have complete, utter respect for that girl.

My back burns as we walk through the Pit towards the chasm. The Pit is my favorite place in the Dauntless compound. With its lights and delicately carved steps, it looks like something straight out of a fairytale. Though I'm not sure how much I'd like to climb up those stairs.

Ahead of me are Dean and Emily, who look to be carrying a nice, civilized conversation. I walk between Fred and Abby, who are bickering about whether it's possible for someone to hang over the chasm for over five minutes.

"Do you not see the water spraying upwards? When it hits the bars, I'd imagine your hands would get slippery. You know, just a guess," Abby says sarcastically.

"Well, if you have a strong grip, you could stay on."

Abby glares at him. "Yeah? Well, I'd like to see you try."

Fred snorts. "What are you trying to do, kill me?"

"No, I'm trying to prove you wrong!"

"Well, you could do that without putting me on a suicidal mission!"

I extend both of my hands on either side, keeping the two from clashing with each other and tearing their faces out. "No fighting, children," I joke.

Fred gives me a puppy-dog face. "She's trying to kill me!"

"Not funny," I say.

Abby smirks at him over my shoulder. "See, she's on my side."

Fred pouts. "Come on, Soph! Side with me!"

"Very convincing." I roll my eyes at him, but grin. "Come on, let's catch up to them."

We all quicken our paces, and I can sense the glares that Abby and Fred are giving to each other, but all I can think is that if Melissa, my girly Amity friend, were here, she'd say something about how "their chemistry was perfect", and would be gushing over Abby and Fred's future love story.

Which I completely see as something plausible, but I have a feeling that if I tell them that, they'll make _me _hangover the chasm for over five minutes.

When we catch up to Emily and Dean, they are laughing about something, and Emily's eyes are sparkling as she looks at Dean, and I suspect that Fred and Abby wouldn't be the only people Melissa would gush over.

"Hate to ruin your sweet conversation," Fred says, "but it's nearly four, and we should be getting to the arena again."

"Already?" I moan. "I'm still sore all over."

Abby pats my arm sympathetically. "Well, it's only one battle today, so we can get it over with quickly."

I scrunch up my face, but nod.

"Let's go."

I walk with Abby and Emily to my right. Dean makes to stand next to me, but Fred grabs his arm before he can, dragging both of them ahead of us. Probably to get away from Abby. I suppose that it doesn't matter what faction you change to - you'll always keep some parts of your old faction with you.

Which doesn't really reassure me, what with my Amity upbringing compared to Dauntless.

When we reach the training room again, Henry, Cayden, Michael, Kathryn, and Audrey are all already waiting. We greet them with nods and smiles. I try to offer a grin to Audrey, but she simply averts her eyes from mine.

"So we're waiting for Cole?" Emily asks them.

"Yeah," says Michael.

Emily shrugs. "Okay."

Somehow, Dean pops up next to me. When I look at him, I remember what Cole had told Felix - that Dean was one of the top three of all us transfers. It's kind of hard for me to imagine, since he was the boy that I helped get onto the train, and because of his kind, easy smile, but I remember how he struck the center of the target with his gun, and how after the punching bags, he hadn't even seemed tired out.

Funny. I've always thought that the Dauntless were all tough as nails and down-to-earth. But Dean doesn't seem to outwardly be either.

"Hey," he says.

"Hi."

"Just so you know," he says, and his eyebrows come together, "if we get paired up in a match, with some good acting, we can both get off easily without hurting anyone."

I can't help it - I laugh. "Thanks," I say between my laughs.

He grins. "Any day, Sophie."

The nickname cuts my laughter short, and a cold chill creeps over me. "What did you call me?"

Dean rubs his hands together in anticipation. "'Sophie'. You know how the Dauntless call the Amity 'banjo strumming softies'? Well, see, when you shorten 'Sophia', it becomes 'Soph'. So rather than call you a 'softie', you can be Sophie!" He smiles, looking pleased with himself.

It's a nice idea, but I hate that name.

"Don't call me that," I say, and forget that there's eight other people nearby. "Please."

Dean frowns with confusion and concern. "Why not?"

"It's…" I pause. To lie, or not to lie. But the Amity told me once to trust my instincts, and my instinct is telling me that Dean is my friend - I can trust him. "It's what my brother used to call me," I confess, looking at the ground.

"Oh." Dean's voice is laced with understanding, and I glance up to see his apologetic eyes. "I'm guessing he transferred away from Amity?"

I nod. I don't know why I'm telling him this, when I've barely known him for two days, but when he nods back at me and says with bitterness in his voice, "I had a sister who did that, too," I am glad I did tell him.

I give him a grateful smile. He understands. I am happy that I trusted my instincts. But then again, Amity taught me to not hold grudges. And I still hold one against my brother, Joshua, for leaving Amity.

He's partly the reason why I left. Because I simply didn't understand how Joshua could live in Amity and still have room to be in Abnegation, and I wanted to be able to do the same.

At that moment, Cole's voice reaches us, and we all turn to see him jogging down the hallway. "All rested up, ready for matches?"

We give a half-hearted cheer. He rolls his eyes and unlocks the door. "Come in."

As we stand by the wall, outside the arena ring, Cole jogs to the board and starts writing names down. "Now, these are just random pairings, as we haven't really seen the full extent of everyone's ability, yet," he says, jotting down a name, then erasing it. He glances over the board, nods, and steps away so we can see it.

I barely have time to start to panic (for some reason, I didn't register the idea of having our battles in front of the other transfers) when I see my name. I'm the first on the list. My opponent is Michael.

I find his black hair in the group, and we give each other nods. My hands are shaking, like they had this morning, before my fail with the gun shooting.

"So first up," Cole says enthusiastically, "Sophia and Michael!"

Both of us step up to the arena. I have to count my breaths so I don't start hyperventilating.

"Now the rules are simple: fight using your body parts, stay in the arena, and when a person can no longer get up, or calls defeat, then the match is over." Cole narrows his eyes. "Though I would not recommend calling defeat _until_ you can't get up. Here in Dauntless, we don't take to giving up so easily."

On that daunting note, he smiles. "Go for it."

My legs are shaking, and when Michael throws a punch at me, I almost forget to move. I take a little jump out of the way, my heart hammering in my chest. I try to swing a fist back at him, but he catches my hand and twists it.

I can't help but cry out. In my peripheral vision, I see Dean make a slight movement of his arm, but I am on my own. This is my battle.

I try to remember what Cole had told me. He'd said that my mental endurance was my best bet. I'm not so sure about that, because it's not as if Michael will let go if my brain screams at him to stop.

I twist my wrist around, which effectively breaks his hold around my arm. I gasp in relief and pain, but have to quickly sidestep another punch.

Hoping to land a good hit at his shins, I kick a leg out. It barely skims his legs, and he grabs my ankle as it moves past his side. Michael looks at me with sympathy in his eyes, but, hanging onto me by my ankle, swings me so that my head makes contact with the mat.

I bite down on my tongue to keep from screaming. I want to black out. I want to tell Cole to stop this battle right now, and I want to tell the world that I change my mind - I don't want to be in Dauntless anymore, because why have to endure this, when back at home, I could be completing my initiation process by picking apples and singing?

I moan aloud as Michael lands a kick in my side, and suddenly, I feel like it's just me and Michael in the room. My breathing is shallow. Everything screams for me to drop and call defeat, but a little voice in the back of my mind protests.

_I can't stop now_, I think. _I can't stop_. I place hand out in front of me, and lift myself up. It sends pain through my sides and my arms, but I don't stop until I'm kneeling. Michael kicks my arm and when I look at him, he seems to be torn between stopping and viciously fighting.

"I… can't stop," I whisper to myself, and roll over to the side, just as Michael aims a kick to my stomach. It takes everything and more for me to stand up, but I do, even if I'm a little wobbly. My head pounds, and I feel half-unconscious, but I force myself to stand my ground.

Michael turns to me. His arm draws back for another punch. But I beat him to it.

My left fist connects with his stomach, and he stumbles back a few steps. There's a look of surprise on his face, replaced by a Dauntless fearlessness.

I have no time to bask in the glory of landing a punch, because Michael lands a succession of four on my face. I go stumbling and flying back, landing on my back and my head again. I feel something warm and sticky making its way down from my nose, which hurts and throbs, and realize that it's blood.

The thought of it makes me want to faint, but in the end, that's not what makes me lose consciousness.

It's the kick to the head that makes the pounding in my head intensify so much that I black out.

* * *

I wake up on a soft bed, to see Dean's red hair and brown eyes above my face.

"Dean?" My eyes adjust to the room, which is lit only by a few lights.

"Good, you're awake," he breathes out in relief, leaning back.

"Where am I?"

I try to move my head, but it just sends spasms of indescribable pain through me, so I just stay as still as possible.

"The infirmary," he says. "You got knocked out."

"No way," I say sarcastically. I tentatively move my hands. They don't hurt that much, so at least I have those. "Could you help me sit up?"

Though it takes a minute or so of me suppressing screams of pain and biting on the insides of my cheek, together, we manage to prop me up against the wall behind me. I discover a bump the size of an egg on the top of my head. The pain in my nose reminds me of Michael and my match. My stomach feels sick. I lost my round.

"The matches are over," Dean says, as if he's just read my mind. "Everyone's at dinner now."

I push away my previous thoughts. "Why aren't you?" I ask curiously.

"Had to make sure you weren't dead," he says as if it's the most obvious thing in the world.

I manage a smile for him. "Thanks. But you should go eat now. I'll be fine."

His eyebrows knit together in concern, but he relents. "Okay. See you."

He gets up from his stool and a few seconds later, I hear the door close gently.

There's a coughing noise from a few feet away. I turn my head to the right, ignoring the throbs of pain in my head.

There is a girl with copper brown hair sitting up on the bed next to me. She has a black eye, but the way she's looking at me, the eye isn't affecting her at all.

"Hi-" I start to squeak out, but the door opens, and both of us glance towards it.

A boy with dark hair walks in. The girl starts to greet him, but I can't help myself when I recognize who he is.

"It's you!" I blurt out.

The boy from the train spares me a look. "Oh. It's you."

"You know her?" says the other girl, who casts me a suspicious glare.

The boy shrugs, sitting next to the girl's bed. "Just a brief meeting. Nothing, really."

I echo him, even though I don't consider the fact that he'd helped me onto the train and saved my life 'nothing'. "Yeah, it was nothing, really."

The girl still glares at me, and I avert my gaze.

The two start talking in hushed tones, and when I hear something that sounds strangely like kissing, I blush and realize how awkward this is, so I pretend to be fiddling with something on the other side of my bed (there's nothing there) until the kissing stops.

I let out a sigh of relief when I hear the boy get up from his bedside, and sit back up, gritting my teeth against the pain. For some reason, I feel like I can't show weakness to the boy and girl. I feel like it has more to do with pride than anything else, though. I sigh with contentment when the burning in my sides subside and my head stops feeling like it'll explode.

And then, after all that effort I put into "not showing my weakness", I have to do something like glance to my right and scream.

The boy raises his dark eyebrows at me.

I just blush and rub my neck, which hurts from me jerking back. "I thought you'd left already," I explain a little grumpily.

He trains his blue eyes on mine, and I find myself unable to look away. "You're the Amity transfer, huh? My brother and Cole have told me about… how you're faring."

"Your brother?" I say faintly. I can't think. His dark blue eyes are strangely distracting. Who's his brother?

The boy turns away, and starts towards the door. "At any rate, you'll find the matches will go by quickly for you. It'll be over with soon." He pauses as he opens the door. "See you, Hanna."

Hanna, the brown haired girl, gives him a friendly wave and smile, but as soon as he leaves, she trains her blue eyes on me.

"Hey, banjo strumming softie," she says coolly, "how and why does Nick know you?"

I have to blink a few times. I can't think. "Nick," I repeat, and reality washes over me. I remember my place. "Wait, _he's _Nick?"

She rolls her pretty eyes at me. "Yes, now answer my question."

Her tone clearly states that she's impatient, but the only thoughts running through my head are: He's the so-called Dauntless prodigy? Interesting. And I never would have thought about it before, but I see what Cole meant when he said Felix and Nick were alike. They both have that silent-but-not-deadly demeanor about them.

Hanna arches a pierced eyebrow at me. "You gonna answer?" The earring gaudily shines into my eyes, and reminds me that she is probably a Dauntless-born initiate.

"Oh," I say distractedly, "he helped me onto the train, is all."

Hanna makes a noise of exasperation, turns from me, and grumbles something to herself that sounds strangely like, "He's too nice to people like you."

Which gets me kind of angry, so I retort, "Well, on the bright side, he saved a life, but that's no big deal, since I'm a 'banjo strumming softie'."

"That's not what I meant." Hanna's eyes flash dangerously at me, and I suddenly notice the black tattoo ominously creeping up her neck.

My hands are breaking into a sweat, but I keep my eyes levelly trained on hers. "Then what did you mean?"

She scoffs, then turns away, as if I'm not worth her time. "Whatever. You'll be gone soon anyway, and then he'll see." The way she says the last part is like she's telling herself, not me.

I gape a little, face straight ahead, and huff in indignation. Both of them had said I would be gone soon without a single hint of doubt in their voices. And they don't even know me. (Though I suppose that the bump on my head and bruises that are surely forming on my face are enough proof of how badly I did in my round)

The thought that these people have no faith in me, and that they have no reason to, makes my head throb even more, as if it's reminding me that I don't belong here in Dauntless.

I close my eyes and picture my mother and father standing in front of our house, smiling at me. I wonder how they are doing, and if they will come on Visiting Day. I hope that we will be done with matches by then, because if my parents see me all bruised and scarred like I am now, they will surely know that it's a hopeless idea, that I'll survive in Dauntless.

Somehow, Nick's words find their way into my mind: "It will be over with soon."

And the strangest thing happens - I have another spurt of Dauntless energy, because as my eyes open, I'm thinking that I need to prove Nick and Hanna wrong. I'm thinking that I need to prove to Cole and Felix that I am capable of surviving in Dauntless. I'm thinking that no one will ever need to find out that I didn't get Dauntless in the aptitude test, because I'll become Dauntless

And I'm thinking about my brother Joshua in Abnegation, and I'm thinking that I want to be more dauntless than he is.

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed reading this chapter as much as I did writing it :) Comments? Reviews? **


	4. Chapter 4

******Okay, terribly sorry I haven't updated in forever! Sorry! But enjoy this chapter :) **

* * *

The next morning, I am quickly woken and painfully dragged out of my infirmary bed by Dean and Emily, who hurriedly explain that Cole is taking us on a trip to see the different jobs of the Dauntless members, and we must meet him and the others at the train station in exactly five minutes.

"Sorry I forgot to tell you yesterday," Dean apologizes, handing me a bagel as Emily checks over my bandages to see if they are stable enough for me to run and jump on a train in.

"It's alright," I say rather groggily, still trying to keep my eyes open. I take a bite of my bagel. There's a dull throbbing in my head, and Emily informs me that the bump is turning a strange shade of yellow and green.

"Come on," Dean says, grabbing my arm, which is sore (everything is), and pulls me to the door. "Do you think you could manage to jog?" he asks.

I scrunch up my face, and immediately wish I hadn't, because it makes my nose feel like it's about to fall off. "Sure," I say, even though I don't believe it for a second. After all, jogging seems an impossible feat when moving even my fingers makes me wince.

By the time we reach the train station, I am not even jogging - I'm just stumbling as quickly as I can, trying to ignore the burning fire in my sides.

"You okay?" Dean breathes out as we head towards the group of transfer initiates and Cole.

I nod, but it's more because I honestly don't have enough energy to verbally say anything.

Emily pats my back lightly. "All we have to do is jump onto the train," she says encouragingly.

I muster a smile, resisting the urge to sit down on the floor and sleep. It's dawn, but there is barely any light peeking from the cloudy skies. From a distance, there is the rhythmic sound of a train rapidly approaching, which I can pass off as the sound of apples hitting the basket on the ground if I try hard enough, but I think it has more to do with the fact that I feel senile than anything else.

When we finally get to the group, Fred and Abby wave at us. Michael smiles apologetically at me, and though I return the smile, I feel a part of me that resents him for landing that kick to my head (which, Dean tells me, was not entirely necessary, seeing as I couldn't get up at the time). Cole claps his hands together and says, "Alright. Everyone's here? Good, because the train should be coming right about… now."

Just as the words leave his mouth, the sound of the train intensifies, and a sleek black train appears around the corner and starts to whiz past us.

Cole doesn't look behind as he starts running. "Better hurry! This train doesn't go on for long!" he calls back.

Michael, Fred, Emily, and Audrey immediately start after him. "Come on," Emily says, waving for us to follow.

I nod, but my head feels like it's going to explode, and I don't know how my legs are going to be able to carry me any further. My heart beats quickly at the thought that I'll have to jump on a moving train. Again.

Dean looks at me concernedly. "Ready?"

"Yeah," I murmur, gesturing to my head. "Ready to die."

I'm not kidding (because the pain in my head and the accelerating beats of my heart are terrifying enough to make me fall off the train or something), but he rolls his eyes at me. "Let's go."

Dean breaks into a run, and it's the last thing I want to do, but I follow after him, my head pounding.

He points to a car behind us, which has its door wide open. "That one!" he shouts over the train's noise. He hops into the car before it, which has a narrower opening. This time, he lands perfectly, but I have no time to watch him stabilize himself.

My heart races as I try to measure the timing of my jump correctly, and force all the strength I have left into my legs. _Show them they're wrong_, I think, memories of last night's talk with Nick and Hanna flowing back into my head. I take a large leap to the right, and feel my feet hit solid ground. It jarrs my legs up to my hips.

"Oh!" I exclaim in surprise that I've actually managed to jump onto the train, before I gasp in pain and crumple to the hard floor, clutching at my sides. "Ouch."

"You okay?" I force myself to look up, even though I already know it's Dean. He must have jumped from his car to mine.

"Yeah," I say, pushing myself off of the ground so that I'm sitting up. My legs hurt, but a small smile forms on my face. "I managed to do it right this time."

"So did I," he grins, sitting next to me. His red hair glints in the small amount of sunlight that's starting to peek through the clouds outside. We watch the scenery whizz by for a few minutes until Emily walks into our car.

"Oh, good, you're both-" She stops for a moment, and when I look at her, there's an expression on her face that makes me want to scoot further away from Dean, but it disappears. "You're both here," she completes. "Cole says to jump when we see the fence."

"What fence?" Dean asks.

"That fence?" I guess, pointing out the car.

It's the barbed wire fence that stands over 20 feet tall, guarded by Dauntless guards, which look like tiny black spots from here.

Dean hops up on his feet and extends a hand out to me. I use it to stand up, which hurts my legs, head, sides, and everything else on my body.

I grimace, walking over to the door. My hands are sweaty. "Let's get this over with," I say, but it's because I'm tired, not brave, that I say that.

Emily agrees, but in a different way. "It's so much better jumping onto the train than jumping off. There's more… thrill."

Which for some reason, makes me go into hysterics, which hurt my sides a lot, to the point where I'm not laughing anymore - I'm gasping in pain.

Dean shakes his head at me, which makes me stop immediately.

"What?" I ask defensively, gingerly holding my sides.

"How can you be so energetic? What with your injuries and all?"

I gape at him, temporarily forgetting the unnerving feeling of needles poking into my sides. "Energetic?" I repeat incredulously. "I'm anything _but _energetic right now."

He snorts. "Alright."

"I'm not!" I protest. I turn to Emily. "Am I?"

"Well," she says, regarding me with her perceptive grey eyes, "yeah, for someone who got… badly hurt yesterday."

I huff. "But I'm not being energetic, I just want this to be over with quickly!"

"We believe you," Emily says, grinning. "Now jump."

"What?" I yelp as my legs bend of their own accord and I leap off the train right after Emily.

I land on the dirt and roll forward, my head hitting the ground.

I involuntarily let out a scream, opening my eyes that I don't even remember shutting.

Emily is rushing towards me, her hands outstretched. "You hit your head?" she guesses.

I moan in reply as Dean stands on the other side of me. Side. My hips hurt, too, from twisting when I landed.

Emily grimaces. "Well, there's nothing we can do about it. Not until we get back to the headquarters, anyway. We should go to where the rest are." She vaguely point up ahead, to where I can see Cole's light brown hair sticking out.

When we reach him, Audrey, Fred, and Abby, Cole greets us with an easy smile. "Alright. You've all managed to make it. How are your injuries, Sophia?"

"Okay," I say as lightly as possible. For some reason, I can't remember why I'm supposed to be pretending I'm fine. I want to faint, but of course, I can't. Why can't I? Why not just faint where I stand right now?

Oh, yes. Because of Nick and Hanna. And Joshua.

I add a little smile at the end, to make it more convincing. Cole just nods and says, "Good, then. Wouldn't want you missing out on tonight's events."

My eyes bug out of my face. Somehow, I don't like the way he says it. "What events?" I say as casually as possible.

But he only shakes his head, his brown eyes shining. "None of the transfer initiates can find out," he replies. Cole looks off into a space behind us, and puts up a hand. "Glad to see you've made it," he calls out to the walking group of Cayden, Michael, Kathryn, and Henry.

"We're glad, too," Cayden calls back, which makes Henry snort.

Seeing Michael makes my head pound even more, so I turn away and head over to Abby.

"Ouch," she says as she looks me from head to toe.

"'Ouch', indeed," I agree.

"You excited to see all the jobs around here?" she asks.

I shrug. "Maybe. Depends."

It turns out that the trip is not exciting, because the minute I see the Dauntless soldiers standing on the inside of the padlocked gate, there's a terrible emotion that churns my stomach until I feel sick. On the bright side, while trying to keep the bagel Dean gave me from coming up, the pain in my legs seem to dissipate, and I no longer feel like I'm going to faint.

Because there's only one thing on my mind, and it's that I don't want to be these soldiers. I don't want to be one of them, who stand at this gate all day, waiting for a threat that will never appear. I want to amount to more. And by the looks on my fellow initiates' faces, they are thinking along the same lines.

After we've toured all of the stops, we assemble back at the train station. Cole informs us that it is ten o'clock and that the train will be here in four minutes and twenty-six seconds. Apparently, he knows what we're all thinking, because he stops and regards us with a careful look.

"Somehow, I get the feeling this wasn't exactly a moral booster for you all," he says calmly.

"Not really," Dean speaks up.

Cole gives a laugh, but when he looks at us, I don't see or feel any sympathy coming off of him. "Well, don't worry about what jobs you'll get. Focus on being in the top ten, or you won't have any jobs to consider in the first place."

Which, of course, makes us feel a whole lot better, which Fred exemplifies in his comment: "We only have to be in the top ten of seventeen people, or we'll be factionless. No big deal."

Cole arches an eyebrow, and it's the most Dauntless I've ever seen him, since he's got no visible tattoos or piercings. "And?"

I'm sure Fred or even Dean would have had a wonderful banter with Cole, except another train starts to approach, and Cole turns around.

But right before he takes off running, Cole says, without turning, "The best get into Dauntless. Nothing less."

* * *

Her hazel eyes are the only things I can see. Those hazel orbs that look at me in disgust and hatred. I've never had anyone hate me before, so it's a change to have someone dislike me so openly, and for no apparent reason.

Audrey's stance is nimble, and like a bird's. She's light on her feet, and yet new bruises on my legs are going to form at a hundred miles per hour if she keep kicking me there, which she will.

I pant for breath, my hands weakly clutched together in front of me. I take a deep gulp of air and exhale as I aim a fist at her stomach. Her blonde hair spins as she turns to avoid my fist, grabs it, and flips me around until I slam into the mat.

I groan, lying on the floor. I hear Audrey's careful footsteps making their way towards me, but can't do more than scoot a centimeter away.

"Can you get up, Sophia?" I hear Cole's voice say.

I don't make a move or sound, but it has more to do with the fact that I'm trying to contain whimpers of pain from the intense pressure in my head.

"No," Audrey answers for me, her voice malicious and cutting into the air like a knife.

It's odd. I can barely see anything, I can't stand up, and yet I hear Cole sigh from halfway across the room. "Okay. Audrey's the winner of this battle," Cole says.

I'm okay with this statement, until I remember Joshua, and I remember Nick and Hanna. _You'll be gone soon_. "Wait," I croak out.

It's such a feeble and quiet noise that Cole doesn't hear it. But Audrey does, and she informs everyone, "She said to wait."

I close my eyes and focus on a dot of yellow in my mind. My hands splay out on the ground, and shake as I pick myself off of the ground. My head will not be getting better anytime soon, and my legs will not be working well for awhile. But even though all the Amity in me screams to stop and rest, I don't until I've sat up on the mat.

I hear Dean give me a cheer, but I ignore it. "I can… get up," I murmur quietly, more to myself than to Cole or to Audrey.

Audrey watches me distastefully as I extend one leg out and push myself up with the other, until finally, I am standing and facing her. A sense of achievement rolls through me, but I push it away, because I can't be distracted.

The room is silent, but I have the feeling that only I hear what Audrey says to me.

"You can't beat me. So why bother?" She looks at me, expressionless except for the disdain in her hazel eyes.

And all I say back is, "Mental endurance."

She's caught off guard, and her eyes are filled with confusion, not hatred, so I take that chance to fall forward and push her.

Audrey's face contorts in surprise and she has to walk backwards a few steps to rebalance herself, but she quickly retaliates and pushes me back.

I grunt as I trip backwards and land on my bottom. Hard.

"Done yet?" Audrey asks, walking towards me.

Nick. Hanna. Cole. Felix.

I time myself perfectly. "Not quite," I say, just as I use the last burst of energy I have to stretch out my legs and kick the back of her knees.

Audrey half-collapses, but I see the fire in her eyes as she fixes me with a stare. For some reason, I smile at her, which, of course, angers her even more, so she lands a swift kick into my side.

"Done now?" she asks, as I yelp and squeeze my eyes shut in anticipation.

"Of course not." But I've got no tricks up my sleeve, and I think she knows that, because she digs her foot into my stomach, knocking me to the ground, and making me feel like I'm about to throw up.

After an antagonizing few seconds, she takes her foot off and brushes off her hands. I gasp for breath as Cole says, "And the winner of this battle is Audrey!" The words sting me, and I want to protest, except I can't. No one can argue the fact that Audrey won.

As Audrey makes her way out and to her lone corner of the room, Dean immediately rushes into the arena to me.

"Do you think you need to go to the infirmary?" Dean asks, helping me stand up. I groan.

"No." I have to put an arm over his shoulder as we walk out of the arena.

Abby and Emily rush over to us. "Are you alright?" Abby asks.

"Yeah," I say, waving my hand in the air. Dean helps me to the wall, where I rest my back against the smooth surface.

I glance down at my legs. Already, some parts are a purplish-gray. I grimace.

When I look back up, Emily, Dean, and Abby are all grinning at me.

I immediately flinch. "What?"

Dean shakes his head.

"_What_?" I demand.

"You were amazing out there," Abby says, her eyes grey sparkling.

I give her a strange look. "I lost," I inform her.

"We mean your determination," Emily explains. She shakes her head. "It was great. Cole looked as if he'd never seen anything like it. You getting up after being beaten up yesterday, the day before that, _and _today…"

"...was really Dauntless of you," Dean finishes. He gives me an apologetic smile, and I know it's because he still feels guilty for punching me in the stomach yesterday. Cole had paired us together for our daily match, and though I know Dean went as lightly as he could on me, we're in Dauntless. They don't believe in pity.

"Yeah, no wonder you got into Dauntless!" Abby says excitedly.

I look at each of their faces, and can immediately tell that they are not lying - they are completely serious. But at the moment, I wasn't thinking about how Dauntless and brave I was being - just that I needed to prove them all wrong, that I have the ability to be Dauntless.

But Emily's smiling at me so proudly, Abby's patting my shoulder, and Dean's just being so… Dean-like, that I feel obliged to lie again, say thanks, and smile along with them.

* * *

In the middle of that night, we are awaken by a loud hammering on the door, then a billion flashlights shining in our faces. A group of people are yelling as they yank the blankets off of us. My head rings from the noise.

"Get up!" I recognize as Felix's voice. "Get changed and be out at the train station in five minutes!"

"What?" I hear Fred complain over the noise. "What for?"

"For fun, darling," says a girl with a sharp voice. She sounds our age, and for a short moment, I wonder if these are possibly the Dauntless-born initiates, when a light shines directly into my eyes, and I see a pair of dark blue eyes before I shut my own eyes to keep out the light.

"Dauntless tradition!" Felix calls out. "Miss it, and you miss part of initiation! Five minutes!"

"Let's get out!" someone says, and the group of people (I estimate there's about ten people total) start out the door, telling us to hurry up or we'll miss the train.

When they leave, the ringing in my head subsides a little. Our dormitory is a mass of chaos and excitement, with everyone wondering what the hell we're going to do that requires us to jump on trains when it's exactly two a.m. in the night.

It's alarming, how quickly we can get ready if we need to, considering the fact that on normal mornings where we're actually groggy, it can take up to half an hour to get changed. But we're filing out the door after two minutes of frenzied changing and questions.

"Come on!" Dean hollers, running down the hallway.

I start to go after him and everyone else, but cry out in pain. Audrey's kicks have definitely left their mark on me. But I grit my teeth and start running, ignoring the intensifying pain in my legs and sides. At least my head isn't hurting as much, anymore.

We reach the train station at the exact moment that the train starts to flash by, so there's no time to rest before the leap. We all just keep running after the other group of Dauntless, who are ahead of us, until we're alongside the train, and begin to hop in.

I don't know if I can muster the strength in my legs to have a good jump, but I've done it three times so far, and haven't died any of those times, so I try not to think about it as I cross my fingers and leap sideways.

I barely make it.

The impact of hitting the edge of the train car at my stomach knocks the wind out of me, and makes my stomach feel like it's burning up. My legs, up to mid-thigh, are dangling over the side, my face pressed to the wooden floor. I feel myself slipping, and let out a small, terrified scream as I dig my fingers between the floorboards. My heart is beating incredibly quickly, and it's the only thing I can hear.

I'm falling. I'm slipping. I'm not going to make it.

And then gloriously strong hands grip me at my armpits and lift me up until I'm standing on solid floor again.

I hunch over, gasping for air, and moaning as I gingerly touch my stomach. There's no blood, at least. I look up at my savior. "Thank you so much," I say between my pants.

The brown-haired boy is obviously strong and bold, but the inviting smile on his face makes me feel at ease. I have the sudden urge to hug him as we do in Amity when we greet people, something that never even crossed my mind for any of the other Dauntless people I've seen. His brown eyes sparkle down at me.

"No problem," he says. "No one else volunteered, so I thought I'd lend a helping hand." He gestures around him, and for the first time, I see that there are four people staring at us two, and Cayden gives me a wave from where he stands in the corner.

"Hi," I say to the two girls and two other boys that I see.

They all just nod at me, and turn away, indulging themselves in their conversations again.

"We're meeting in this car," the boy says to me, "so Felix, Cole, and everyone else should be here soon. I'm Josiah, by the way. Dauntless-born, if you haven't noticed."

I take his offered hand and shake it. "I'm Sophia."

His eyes widen. "No way! You're Sophia?"

I blink. "You know who I am?"

"Yeah, Felix and Nick told me that you're an Amity transfer!" Josiah looks at me, and there's an emotion in his eyes that I can't place. Respect? No, and I wouldn't know why a Dauntless would respect me. Anger? Not really. I get the feeling that it's a mixed type of emotion.

"Oh," I squeak out, but I'm really just thinking that it seems Nick and Felix do a lot of talking about me. I'm not sure if that's flattering or not.

The door on the end of the car opens, and the rest of the transfers come in. I wave for Dean, Emily, Fred, and Abby to come to me. As they're making their way to me, I hear cheers from the Dauntless-born initiates, and glance at the door.

It's Nick and Hanna, walking in with wide smiles on their faces. Their hair looks completely windblown and disheveled, but they grin as if they've both done something prize-worthy.

Dean bounds up to me, glancing at Josiah, who is roaring praise at the two, in confusion. "What's happening?" he asks.

I shrug, trying to avert my eyes from Nick and Hanna. Maybe if I avoid them, then they won't see me.

I'm pretty sure that would have worked, if it weren't for Josiah. He stops cheering and instead calls out, "Hey, Nick! Hanna! Come here, and look who I met!"

My jaw drops open in protest as Josiah reaches out a hand and grabs my left arm, waving it in the air like a flag. The flopping of my arm makes it hurt, and when Josiah lets go, I quickly try to rub the feeling back into my hand.

Nick and Hanna walk over to Josiah, who claps both of them on the back. "Amazing, what you did," Josiah says, shaking his head in wonder.

"What did they do?" Dean pipes in, regarding Nick and Hanna with a contemplating expression on his face.

Nick speaks up. "We jumped on from the back of the train."

Dean raises his eyebrows. "That's it?"

Hanna surges forward, her blue eyes fiery. She pokes Dean in the chest. "Hey, Redhead, you're obviously not from Erudite. I don't think you realize how hard it is to jump on a train from the very back, when it's moving as fast as this train is." She glares at him. "Maybe you need some first-hand experience?"

Josiah puts his hand between them. "Woah, let's not get too violent," he says.

Dean pushes the hand aside, narrowing his eyes at Hanna. "Maybe I'll try it sometime."

"Tell me when you do," Hanna bites back. "I want to see you utterly fail."

A dangerous look forms on Dean's face, and I quickly reach out and push him away from Hanna. "Stop it, Dean," I scold him.

"Yeah, stop it, Dean," Hanna mimics me, but this time, her icy stare is directed at me. Somehow, I get the feeling that she's not very fond of me. "You again?" She laughs. "You're going to get crushed in this game."

"What ga-" I start, but Felix's voice stops me, commanding attention.

"Initiates!" Felix barks out. As I'm turning to the front of the car, I see a slight scowl on Nick's face as he watches his brother. "We have gathered you all here to play a game of Dauntless tradition - Capture the Flag!"

My mouth falls open. I can't play Capture the Flag. Not in the state I'm in right now. And not when we're with the Dauntless-born initiates. For a moment, I hope that they're joking, but I correct myself in my thoughts - the Dauntless never joke about these types of things.

Cole steps up next to him, holding a large box. "You will each have a gun loaded with paintballs inside. Felix and I will be team leaders, and yes, we will be mixing up the Dauntless-born and transfer initiates."

Felix grins. "We'll start with the transfers. When we pick you, come up, get a gun, and stand behind your leader."

The Dauntless-born initiates melt off to the sides and back of the car. Josiah pushes Dean and I closer to the front. All ten of us transfers stand in a straight line.

"You first," Cole says.

I hold my breath as Felix looks at us down the line. I'm going to be picked last. I know I will be.

"Emily," Felix says.

"Dean." Dean flashes a smile at Emily as he casually grabs a gun from the box.

My heartbeat is probably ten times faster than it should be.

"Audrey."

"Cayden."

"Abby."

"Fred."

Fred walks up next to Dean, and the two do some strange handshake together. From behind Felix, Emily and Abby smile at me encouragingly. There's only four of us left.

"Michael," Felix says thoughtfully, which makes me wonder what his strategy is. Everyone on his team is different, in both skill and size. Until I realize…

"Oh," I breathe out, looking from Abby to Emily to Audrey to Michael. Different factions. They're all from different factions.

"Kathryn," Cole says, snapping me away from my reverie.

It's only me and Henry, the blond Erudite boy, left. I can feel everyone's eyes on me, but the only thing I notice is how Felix does not look at me in the eyes - not once. I find that strange, that his eyes skip over my face as if I don't exist. I'm not good enough to be Dauntless.

The weight in my stomach sinks lower. At this rate, I will most definitely be picked last.

Felix purses his lips. "Sophia."

I'm so startled to hear my name, not Henry's, that I literally jump a little on my feet, which causes some laughter from the Dauntless-born initiates. Blushing, I make my way to the box of guns. Knowing that there are only paintballs inside makes me feel better, so I'm able to pick up the gun without handling it like it's a bomb or something. (But it's pretty close.)

The Dauntless-born initiates stand in their own formation, but Felix and Cole do not start picking people immediately - they first share a look, glance at the initiates, and nod at each other.

Cole clears his throat. "We've decided that since there are seven of you, and that cannot be divided equally, whichever side that Nick is on will have eight people versus the other side of nine."

This makes my eyebrows jump incredibly high, and I'm not the only one who's incredulous. From all around me, my fellow transfers are all doubtful that Nick is good enough to count as two people.

But apparently he is, because all of the Dauntless-born initiates nod in complete agreement.

"Alright, go, Felix."

Felix doesn't miss a beat. "Nick."

His younger brother expressionlessly takes his gun and stands next to me, but I see a hint of a scowl on Nick's face.

Cole smiles, as if he completely expected it. "Hanna."

"Josiah."

"Brandon."

"Julia."

"And I'll take both Daniel and Sharon," Cole says. He claps his hands together, taking two guns from the box himself, and tossing one to Felix. "Alright. Whose team shall go out first?"

"Yours," Felix decides. "We'll give you a ten-minute head start."

"Generous of you," Cole grins. "Alright, team, let's go."

Fred and Dean wave to us as they jump out of the train behind their team. I hear holler and cheers as the Dauntless are let free and into their comfort zone - the dangers of being in the wild.

Josiah comes up and claps my back, which makes me wince in pain. "Glad we're on the same team," he says, smiling.

"Yeah."

Felix calls out, "Alright. We've ten minutes to create a strategy. Any ideas?" It makes him sound like he'll help us decide on what to do, but he just walks to the edge of the train car, glancing at his watch and leaving us to talk.

"Hide the flag," Michael smirks.

"Very funny," Abby retorts, before adding her piece. "Split up. We should have two good shooters stay and guard the flag, wherever we are, and the rest should split and try to find where the other team is."

Julia, a pretty, brunette Dauntless-born initiate, speaks up. "No, no," she says, shaking her head furiously, "We'll just be wasting time by searching. We have to find their spot _before _we do anything like split up. What if one pair finds it, and the others have no idea where to go?"

"We wing it," Josiah declares.

"We'd need some way to communicate," Emily says.

"Can't we just look from high ground to see where they're set up?" Audrey suggests simply. Right now, as she regards our group with her hazel eyes, she doesn't seem malicious at all. It's just when she's around me.

I start to nod, as do Josiah and Abby, but Julia shakes her head. "No, there's no way that Cole would pick a place you can see from a height. He wouldn't put the flag somewhere so… unconcealed."

Josiah nods. "Oh, right."

I notice at this point, Nick scowls and moves to sit down against the wall of the car, not even attempting to participate in the discussion. It makes me angry to know that I'm paying attention to him, so I turn so that I am facing the opposite direction, and try to push him out of my mind.

"So we're back to communication," Michael says helpfully.

Audrey shakes her head. "Like Abby said, the two best shots should stay behind. But the rest of the team should travel in a group, to keep numbers larger. No use in finding the flag if there's only two of you."

"Okay, so scratch the communication part," Abby says, "but one more thing: do you think we ought to conceal ourselves?" She flushes as we all give her a stare. "I mean, it's just camouflage seems to help a lot, and if we can conceal ourselves and the flag, if that's okay with the rules, then we could sneak around in the dark more."

"Nice idea," Michael nods, "except we haven't got anything to conceal ourselves with."

Abby flinches. "Oh. Right."

But as Abby ducks her head, I stand up straighter, a bizarre idea forming in my head. "Yes, we do." Everyone turns to me, and I shift uncomfortably at the attention. Even Nick's blue eyes, from where he's moodily sitting, are on my face. But I force myself to stay still as I gesture towards our guns, shrugging and smiling a little.

"We have paintballs."

* * *

******Yay for paintballs :) What did you all think?**


	5. Chapter 5

******Okay, I just finished reading ********Insurgent********and goodness gracious, I cannot wait for ********Allegiant********, though I've heard some unflattering things about its ending. Ah! Can't wait for it, can't!**

******Anyway, I'm fairly certain that until June, I'll only post once every two weeks, since finals are coming up and such. But do enjoy this chapter :) **

* * *

"Let's go."

We all leap out of the train at Felix's mark. This time, as soon as my feet touch the ground, I do a shoulder roll to soften the impact. Surprisingly, I don't mess up and twist my leg or anything.

"Flashlight?" I hear Michael ask as we all start jogging quietly into the concealment of the trees.

"That would effectively ruin the point of this disgusting paint," Nick says condescendingly. I have the strong urge to stand up for Michael, but two things keep me from doing so - one, he is not my friend, and therefore I do not have the responsibility of standing up for his rights, and two, I don't want to draw more attention to myself than I already have.

"This way," Emily calls, and I follow the sound of everyone's footsteps, my eyes still adjusting to the darkness.

"I can't see anything," Abby mutters under her breath to me.

We trudge into the mess of leaves and twigs, pushing low tree branches out of the way. I concentrate on Nick's dark form in front of me so that I don't get lost.

Eventually, we get to a small clearing in the trees. It's barely anything, but good enough to serve our purposes. If everything works as planned, we'll have their flag before they can even begin to search for ours.

"Who's the tallest?" Emily asks. I see her eyes blinking in the dark, but the rest of her face blends into the background. I smile a little. The power of camouflage.

"Josiah," Julia, the pretty Dauntless-born, calls out.

"Here," Emily says, giving the blue flag to Josiah.

He immediately stretches his arm as far as he can and hangs it over a branch. It's not technically hidden from plain sight - the other team will just need to glance up before they see it.

"Fair work," Felix says. From the way his voice sounds louder, and then softer, I can tell that he's looking around at us.

"Let's just hope this paint stuff works," Michael complains a little. "It smells."

Half of me feels hurt by his comment, and the other makes me want to punch him. The smell _was _nauseating at first - a strong, pungent stench - but we've all gotten used to it, and it's now just a minor irritation. I am suddenly glad that I did not speak up for him against Nick.

I tentatively touch a hand to my face. The paint is still sticky, which at least ensures that it will not drip. I glance at my fingers, which now have dark marks on them. The paint _is_rather foul, but everyone else had seemed okay with having it slathered all over their faces.

After I had announced my idea, we had quickly disassembled our guns, carefully taking out one different-colored paintball each, which left five in each of our guns and nine for our team usage.

Felix found an empty crate in the corner, and we had all taken turns to squirt the paint into it. Emily found a wooden plank, which we had used to mix the red, blue, green, brown, and other colors together to form a thick, dark brown goop.

A goop that we then voluntarily smeared onto our poor faces. And since it was my idea to use paintballs, after he states his scornful comment, Michael turns and glares at me.

Josiah speaks up in my defense. "Yeah, well, because we've put this stuff on, the other team will have a harder time of seeing us." I see the white of his teeth as he flashes a grin at me.

I smile back at him as Michael faces a different direction; personally, I think it's because he's intimidated by Josiah's large form.

"Alright," Emily says. "Ready?"

We nod, assembling around her. Somehow even Nick, who seems to be used to being at the top, has accepted the fact that Emily is simply born to be a leader. Maybe it's because of her commanding choice of words, but I also imagine it's because everyone can tell how Dauntless she is.

"Let's go."

I search through our team to find the two others I am in a group with. We were put into small groups according to what we could do best. That had been Michael and Emily's doing, both who weren't afraid to be completely truthful as to who would fare best in which group. I suppose it's the Candor in them.

"Sophia?" I hear Julia say, and I turn around, nodding. "Where's Audrey?"

"Here." Audrey appears from behind Julia, avoiding my eyes as always. A surge of resentment hits me, and a sharp pain in my stomach reminds me of our match earlier today. I have to grit my teeth to resist from saying something scalding. My mother always told me to think and speak kindly of others.

But then again, she also told me never to be out after midnight, and it's 3 a.m. right now.

"Come on," Julia says, and we start after the other group of Emily, Nick, Abby, and Michael. Josiah is staying behind with Felix to guard the flag.

As we run, I cradle the cold metal of my gun in my right hand. It suddenly feels much more dangerous than it should, and even though I helped make up a quarter of the plan, I feel like I'm going to be the very person to ruin it all. Even now, I sense the exhilaration and fear of being out in the ruthless night clouding my mind.

Just as we break through the foliage of trees, someone hisses, "Stop!" I nearly skid into Audrey, who is directly in front of me, and almost lose my footing on the slippery grass.

"Shh."

Once I regain my balance, I stand up on my tip-toes and scour the open area with my eyes, but can't see anything that would make us stop. Obviously, the others can, because everyone stays completely still and tense, and I cannot even hear our breathing.

"There," Nick whispers.

My eyes catch a sliver of movement and I snap my attention towards the group of five that are approaching the trees from a distance. They are coming from the area near the marsh, where crumbled buildings and a large, circular contraption sit. I read about those once. They used to be a form of entertainment for people. A Ferris wheel.

Emily's voice is barely audible. "Audrey, Julia, Sophia. You can take them?"

"Yeah," Audrey breathes out.

Julia smiles in the dark, her hand tightening on her gun. "Of course."

I just nod, even though I'm painfully aware of the fact that there's a little flaw in our plan.

I can't aim.

"Break," Julia hisses out, and the group of four dart back into the safety of the trees and start making their way towards the buildings.

Julia, Audrey, and I, on the other hand, run straight into the open, our guns pointed at the other team.

They don't notice us yet, and are still creeping about, but I imagine we have a matter of seconds until the element of surprise will run out. My breathing is irregular as Audrey says, "Fire."

Our guns click at the same time, and we pull our triggers. After maybe two seconds, I hear screams and an unbecoming curse word, but we don't look back to see the effects of our shots, because we're already running.

Audrey heads into the trees again, at a different angle than our flag is, while Julia and I separate off to the open field, towards a different clump of old buildings than the one they came from. With all luck, more of them will decide to follow us, not Audrey.

Though I think that the term "luck" applies very loosely here.

"How many?" I call to Julia, who fires another paintball while running backwards. I am sprinting as fast as I can go, and yet she is still able to keep up with me as she faces the other direction.

"We've got three of them, and except for the one I just shot, they haven't been hit yet," she says back, twisting so that she is running normally. "Roll."

"What?" I barely have time to process her command when I hear a crack, and Julia's arm slams into my back, forcing me down. I roll across the grass and hop back up on my feet, starting up a sprint again.

As Julia fires another paintball, she says, "Can't you shoot while running?"

"Are you kidding?" I pant. My sides are beginning to hurt again. "I can't even shoot while standing still!"

"Just try!" She shoots again. "I have one more shot left, and there's two gaining on us."

My hands fumble with the gun and my heartbeat is in my throat. "I don't have good aim! I can't do it while running!"

"Cripes, just _shoot_!"

Even though I'm partially in hysterics, without thinking, I turn around and I shoot at the person closest to me, who I can make out to be Henry. It is much easier to tell who these people are than the people on my team, as we have camouflage.

The recoil blows me off of my feet, and I go slamming into the ground, but I also hear a very satisfying yelp that tells me that I've hit my target.

"I hit it," I say disbelievingly. "I hit him."

The other person aims her gun straight at me, and as I look at her, the moonlight clearly illuminates her copper brown hair. Hanna. Her face is curled up in a little sneer as she fires.

I don't even process my reaction until I feel a sticky substance creeping its way onto my fingertips, and realize that I am face-down on the grass. I dodged it. I dodged the bullet.

I'm beginning to like Capture the Flag.

A little ways behind me, there's a click, and before Hanna can move, a yellow paintball hits her chest and she flies back a few feet, crumpling to the ground. There is an eerie silence that is broken by the distance crack of guns coming from the buildings near the Ferris wheel. Our plan seems to be going along without fail.

I breathe heavily as I get up, wiping the blue paint onto my pants.

"Nice," Julia says, walking up beside me. She doesn't even seem mildly fazed or tired.

"You, too," I say lamely. Funnily enough, though I am sweating, I feel like I have the energy to last me a lifetime. A broad smile forms on my face as I look down at Henry, who is moaning on the ground a couple of yards away. I'd managed to shoot him.

Julia smiles a little, but I realize that it's not for me, because the next thing she does is say, "Time for the real action to begin."

She starts running across the grass towards the Ferris wheel. "Go back to the base," she calls back. "See if Josiah needs any help."

"Okay," I say dumbly, still standing in place. But Hanna starts to moan, and I decide that despite my lucky shot at Henry, I can only hope that I will manage to do it again, and immediately dart off towards our flag.

* * *

My gun is unsteady. My hands shake, and it's somehow incredibly painful to close one eye and focus.

All I need to do is shoot. All I need is one more lucky shot, and we're going to win this game.

"You gonna shoot?" Dean challenges. His eyes are alight with mirth and adrenaline.

Josiah's eyes never leave Dean's gun. "When I feel like it." His voice is just as energetic and alive as Dean's.

A branch shifts slightly, tapping a leaf onto my gun. I immediately draw back and hold my breath. Luckily, neither Josiah nor Dean hear, though I suppose it wouldn't be all that bad if Josiah saw me.

When Julia and I had separated, I'd run back, only to find Audrey and Fred shooting at each other. Since Audrey had been facing me, she'd quickly jerked her head towards our base, signaling for me to leave. And that's probably the highlight of our relationship - that split second of mutual communication.

I'd found my way here, with Josiah defending the flag against Dean. The flag is still on the branch behind Josiah. The two haven't seen me hiding in the bushes yet, and I believe it's partially due to camouflage, because Dean has a flashlight with him.

My fingers tremble as I lift the gun again. All I need to do is surprise Dean and shoot him before he makes a run for it or something.

I'm just about to pull the trigger when a flicker of movement appears in the corner of my eyes. I immediately whip my face towards the general area, and my eyes focus on Hanna, still paint-splattered, nimbly making her way towards the flag.

I shoot a quick glance at Josiah and decide that he's not going to realize it in time. Dean's face is a perfect mask that doesn't reveal anything, though I know he can see Hanna because the corner of his mouth twitches triumphantly.

Panicking, I shift my aim towards Hanna. She's not tall enough to reach the flag, so she reaches up with her arms and gets ready to climb the tree.

Squeezing my eyes shut, I shift my feet so that there's better balance, and pull the trigger.

There's a high-pitched yelp from Hanna, and I open my eyes just in time to see her stumble back and hit the ground. But as I peer at her form, I notice that there's no new paint on her - only the yellow that Julia had hit her with.

I furrow my eyebrows in confusion as I glance over at the tree. There's no paint on it. In fact, there's nothing on the tree.

Not even the flag.

The fact that I hit the flag instead of Hanna dawns on me as a mortifying mistake. But I have no time to search for where the flag might be (for all I know, the paintball could have shot it far, far away), because at that moment, Dean calls out, "Hanna!" as Josiah turns around wildly, a shocked expression on his face.

That's Josiah's mistake. Dean immediately fires his gun and hits Josiah with a bright pink paintball. He sprints to Hanna's fallen form and immediately starts shaking her. I'm torn between revealing myself and staying hidden.

"Hanna, you alright? Who was it that shot it?" Dean says, his face knotted with concern. It interests me how kind he is, even to someone he just met today.

Hanna moans and bats away his hand. "Just get the flag, idiot."

"Oh, right."

My heart is beating as I lift the gun again. Somehow it feels wrong to shoot Dean. But as Dean is standing up, a gunshot rings from behind me and he is splattered with blue paint and falls face-forward onto the ground.

My mouth drops open, and so does my perspective when someone grabs my shirt and uses it to pull me up and push me into the clearing, effectively making me tumble onto the leaf-covered ground.

"Where's the flag?" Audrey asks coldly. Her hands have paint on them, and there's a spot on her right cheek where there's only a hint of the dark camouflage left.

I gesture towards where the flag used to be. "Somewhere over there," I say vaguely, rubbing my neck and sitting up.

She raises her eyebrows. "How did it get over there?"

"Er," I say nervously, "I kind of shot it."

Audrey blinks, but doesn't comment on it.

At that very moment, we hear a tremendous cheer that raises in volume, as does a pattering of footsteps. Audrey and I wait in anticipation, and the noise makes Dean and Josiah groan.

Nick is the first to break through the trees, and in his hands is the red flag of the other team. Behind him, hollering at the top of his lungs, is Michael. Julia, Emily, and Abby follow after them, cheering loudly. A few steps behind are the members of the other team.

"We got it!" Abby calls as she skips up to me.

"I see that," I grin.

"This camouflage stuff really worked!" Michael adds, and I smirk as I remember his views at the beginning of the game.

"You should have seen it," Emily gushes, her eyes sparkling. "They didn't even see us until we were in the same room as them!"

"What happened here?" Julia asks, looking around. "Where's the flag?"

"She shot it," Hanna says as she sits up and rubs her arms.

"Hmm?" Julia tilts her head questioningly as Nick walks towards Hanna and helps her up.

Hanna points a finger at me. "Her. She shot it off the branch. Only because she missed me, her target, by about two feet."

There's a collective series of murmurs, and Abby claps me on the back. "Good job, Sophia."

I blink. "Did you just hear what she said? I missed my target."

"You shot it off the branch and kept it from the other team." Abby rolls her eyes and says, "Who cares if you missed the target?"

"And the shot probably made you fall off the tree, Hanna," Emily nods. She smiles, and I can tell it's because she's proud to have logically figured it out, but Hanna takes it a different way, and glares at Emily.

"I didn't expect her to be there, is all," Hanna says coldly. "If I had, she wouldn't have gotten the chance to even scream."

Nick puts his arm protectively over Hanna and shoots me a glare. I gape at him in indignation, but he turns and whispers something in Hanna's ear that sounds strangely unflattering.

The slightly awkward tension is broken by Josiah and Dean getting up.

"Did we wi-" Josiah begins, and sees the flag in Nick's hand. He lets out a whoop and laughs. "I knew we could do it!"

"Aw," Dean says good-naturedly, grinning up at his team. "We gave it our best effort, though."

"Ah, we most certainly did." We all turn to see Cole and Felix appear through the trees into the clearing. Cole grins. "Nice work, Team Blue." He scratches his head as he looks around at us. "Whose idea was the camouflage? I thought that was a particularly brilliant idea."

I'm too shy to raise my own hand, but Emily does it for me. She grabs my left wrist and lifts it in the air. "Sophia did."

Cole's brown eyes meet mine in surprise. "Sophia, huh? Good work." His words are kind, but something in his tone is hesitant, almost apprehensive, like he doesn't think I have the ability to do something so helpful. I feel the urge to stand up for myself.

"Yeah," I say, and step forward and point towards the area where our blue flag should lie. "I also shot the flag away. Funny, how it was about two feet from the target." I smile and my eyes do not waver, but in reality, my palms are sweaty and I'm fairly certain that my gun will slip out of my hands soon.

Luckily, Cole chooses to turn away without another word, and I let out a small sigh of relief. But I'm still defensive and slightly angry at Cole. Call me self-centered, but I'm a prideful person.

Felix's voice breaks into my thoughts. "Nick," he says, "go find the blue flag. Everyone else, back to the train. And good work, team," he adds in at the end, and hesitates before he says, "Good unity of the factions."

Cole nods vigorously. "Indeed."

Unity of the factions. The Erudite thinking of the plan. The Candor with the whole separating into groups best fit for our abilities. The Abnegation in Abby that allowed us to be selfless and work as a team. The Amity in me, thinking up of the camouflage. And of course, the Dauntless that allowed us to be brave.

As I stumble through the dark back towards the train station, I think about how Felix must have known that we must work together to simulate our plan. I think about how Felix had chosen at least one person from each faction, knowing the end result would be beneficial despite the people - namely, me - he chose.

My respect for him raises a little bit.

* * *

The wind carelessly blows my hair around my face, making me half-blinded through my dark locks. The air passes beneath my feet, clearly reminding me that there's nothing stable beneath it - nothing for me to hold my ground with. The cold breeze makes goosebumps appear on my arms.

I love it.

Dean sits next to me, casually leaning against the side of the car. I'm clutching onto the edges of the train, but I am enjoying this just as much as Dean is.

"Shooting the flag," Dean smirks at me.

"What?" I say defensively. "It helped!"

"Not me."

I push him. "Helped my team," I correct.

"Whatever." He rolls his eyes at me.

"And I shot Henry, too!" I say proudly.

Dean nods. "Nice."

"Thanks," I grin, embracing the elation that comes with accomplishing something that you once thought was impossible.

For a moment, we sit and stare at the stars lingering in the sky. Then, as I remember something, I stand up. Dean looks at me curiously as I tell him, "I'm going to go talk to Emily. You want to come?"

He shakes his head. "Nah, I'll stay here a bit longer."

"Suit yourself," I shrug.

As I make my way back to the other car where everyone else is, each step brings another wave of fatigue. Somehow, during the game, I suppose the adrenaline kept me going and let me forget about my injuries, but my match against Audrey is slowly fighting back for its recognition.

In other words, the soreness in my legs, arms, and stomach have returned.

I'm just entering the car when a hand roughly pulls me to the side. I let out a squeak of surprise and look to see icy blue eyes glaring down at me.

"What was that for?" I say, quickly averting my eyes and ignoring the sudden tenseness of my shoulders.

Nick's voice sounds strangely passionate. "You nearly shot Hanna!" he all but shouts at me.

"What?"

His face contorts. "You almost shot her."

"Was I not supposed to?" I ask lamely, slightly distracted by the sudden urge to run away.

"_No, you weren't_!"

I blink myself into the moment. "We were playing Capture the Flag. I was under the impression that in Dauntless, that's kind of what you do. You know, shoot people."

His glare doesn't lessen one iota.

"We were given guns," I state as patiently as I can. "I'm pretty sure they didn't expect us to-"

"Just stay away from her, won't you?" he growls and turns away.

My jaw drops and I dig my fingernails into my palm. "I didn't quite get a choice," I call out spitefully to his retreating back. He doesn't hesitate or show any sign that he hears me, which really angers me, and I have to force myself to take deep breaths to calm down.

"Overprotective boyfriend, much?" I murmur seethingly as I mindlessly twist back around towards the car where I came from. For heaven's sake, we were playing Capture the Flag, Dauntless style! They gave us guns! She was on the opposite team! What was I supposed to do, hit her with a branch?

Somehow I get the feeling if I turn and shout that to Nick, he will not be very pleased. I almost do anyway, though. Almost, but I don't.

I suppose it has something to do with the protesting voice in my head that sounds strangely like my mother.

* * *

******Sorry this was shorter than the others! I promise the next ones shall be longer :) Ehehe and some exciting things shall happen! Stick around to see what they are! **

******Also, thanks so much for all the feedback, reviews, everything! They mean so incredibly much to me :)**


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